Some Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ users have complained about blurring certain parts of the image when using the primary camera. This issue has been present since the phone's launch earlier this year, and some have started calling it the “banana blur” issue. Samsung has now acknowledged (spotted by Redditor NoSeK2323) that the issue exists and is working to address it.
Images captured using the Galaxy S23 and the Galaxy S23+ sometimes showcase permanent blur in some areas, and this issue is especially noticeable when capturing close-up shots. Samsung says that it is due to the primary camera's wider aperture. The company said in its Polish forum (via Android Authority) that engineers are working on solving this issue. A future update could mitigate the problem.
The Galaxy S23's camera blur issue is a result of a wide aperture
Samsung said, “When testing the capabilities of the S23 or S23+ camera, you may have been caught because when you take a close-up photo, the area around the subject looks a bit blurry. That's because the rear wide-angle camera on the S23 and S23 Plus has a bright aperture, which helps when taking photos in the dark. However, it also means that more noticeable selective focus can make the background of your photos look a bit blurry.”
The South Korean firm also offered suggestions to stop this issue from appearing. One of the workarounds involves taking a step back from the subject if it is 30cm away from the camera lens. Another solution is to hold the phone vertically rather than horizontally or obliquely.
Galaxy S9's dual-aperture feature could've been a perfect solution to this problem
Nevertheless, it has taken Samsung a long time to acknowledge the issue. We are unsure if the problem can be solved entirely due to the nature of this issue. This is the exact scenario where a dual-aperture lens could have been convenient. The dual-aperture (F1.5-F2.4) feature was introduced with the Galaxy S9 and was present in the Galaxy S10 but removed since the Galaxy S20.